Monday, December 13, 2010

I paid a visit to my little "ALIX" store in Place des Vosges in Paris on Sunday. Yes, I know my scarf looks funny (it's called a cowl!) but it's so cozy and it's a mobius strip (!) and I bought it in Lyon. (Yes, mother, I'm staying warm!)

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Three of my friends and I just got back from Lyon (actually it was three days ago now, but I'm still tired and my head's still there..) where we spent a whirlwind weekend of sightseeing and walking and shopping and being all merry in general.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

I just realized I keep taking pictures of things with my face peeking out behind it... hah.

I got an advent calendar today!! A kinder one! If you've never had kinder candy (kinder bueno is my fave), you're missing out. The one for today was a cute little kinder Santa! This is such a treat for me compared to the cheap advent calendars I always get with the gross plastic-y chocolate inside... this one has all kinds of different kinder candy :D

It was snowing today... just a little dust here and there, nothing too serious. It was so pretty though. I realized how utterly Californian I am when I was watching the snowflakes fall on my black jacket and I freaked out when I noticed that they're actually perfectly shaped snowflakes. Six sides and everything. I feel like I've probably seen that before, but I'm amazed nonetheless.

A bunch of us took a little drive today (my friend has a right-hand drive car.. still can't get over it) and we went to this place called Buffalo Grill for dinner. It looked like something you'd see in Smalltown, USA. A big red barn with BUFFALO GRILL written on the side with giant bull horns. They were playing loud country music inside and had an American steakhouse menu... I ordered some ribs and thought they'd probably be awful but they were actually quite good! I was pleasantly surprised! Also surprised that they served us dinner at like 5:30. The place was empty but we were starving, and we thought sure they'd turn us away for coming in before 7. It was great though, I'd definitely go back! Although I suppose it is kind of awful to go there while I'm in France... it was nice to get a little reminder of home for a bit. Funny how almost anything American can remind you of "home" when you're far enough away. Country music? Arizona burger? The Texan BBQ platter? Hell yeah, man. Home sweet home.

Here's hoping we get a giant blizzard tonight so I don't have to go to work tomorrow. Unlikely. Oh well, I'll just make some lesson plans while drinking tea and listening to Christmas music.... la la la...

Monday, November 29, 2010

This was my second Thanksgiving away from home (last year was a bit rough), and my very first Thanksgiving out of the country. I can honestly say it was the most interesting one I've had... and definitely one of the best. Of course I missed being home with my family, but I really enjoyed being here with so many people - many of whom had never celebrated or even heard of Thanksgiving before. There were about 22 of us, and only 3 of us were American. Somehow everyone knew what to do though (bring lots of food! and wine! and eat!, be merry, etc.) and we all had a great time.

I was all worried that there wouldn't be enough pumpkin pie... or wine... but it all turned out fine. And like what usually happens at these sorts of things, we ended up having left-over everything! A lot of my friends here had never tried pumpkin pie and, seeing as it's my favorite part of Thanksgiving (also one of my top 3 all-time favorite pies), I pretty much forced them all to try some. And they loved it! One of the other American girls, Cathy, also made a huge pumpkin pie (she has a normal sized oven - jealous!) so I even got to take some of mine home and not feel bad. Mmmm, pumpkin pie for breakfast... :)

Making whipped cream! I was so relieved when my friend told me she had an electric mixer after she was watching me try to whip cream with a fork. That would have taken hours, I think..

On y va! Here we go...

Filling plates

Les américaines - Jill (NY), Cathy (TX), me (CA)

Mmmmmm

The thing I loved most about this Thanksgiving? There were many of the good ole traditional T-giving dishes, like turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole(!), sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie... but also some new ones - sangria, pumpkin risotto (amazing!), cabbage, baguettes (bien sûr), calamari, guacamole, lemon tarts, and crêpes.

Katie carving the turkey (fillets)

This was actually my favorite part

My favorite part actually was when someone decided that we should all go around the table and say what we're thankful for... I know it was not one of the Americans because whoever it was asked us "That's what you do, right?" and all three of us kind of looked at each other and shrugged... "Well, we don't, but okay!" But we decided it would be fun. Then my (Irish) roomie Katie was like "OK everyone hold hands!! C'mon guys, it's tradition!" I cracked up. I just loved how everyone was getting so into it! Afterwards some people told me that they're definitely celebrating Thanksgiving again next year in whatever country they'll be in... I mean, why not? It's basically just a good excuse to get together with people you love and eat a lot of good food. And drink. :)

Foosball!

Oh, and for the going-around-and-saying-what-you're-thankful-for part? Cathy had the genius idea for everyone to say it in their non-native language. That was interesting! hahah :) How do you say thankful in French I don't even know!? (it's "reconnaissant," which somehow doesn't have the same ring to it, I don't think)

The dessert table!

* This is what my high school French teacher would always tell us the day before Thanksgiving... it literally means "May the stuffing be with you!", but it's a play on "Que la force soit avec vous", and "stuffing" in French is "la farce", farce instead of force....... I hope you get the idea. -shrug- I always thought it was funny. :)

When you're blowing eighty-five days in the middle of France
Yeah, I know it gets tired only where are your friends tonight?

- LCD Soundsystem

I'll be back though. May 2011. And I just keep thinking that this is exactly where I'm meant to be at this point in my life. I've got great people at home whom I miss every day, but I also have great people here whom I already consider close friends. :)

Thanksgiving post coming soon. I just had to make a little space for the part of me that's just a bit homesick every now and then.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Alright, so I just finished baking and we're about to have dinner in an hour or so. I'm just so proud of my pumpkin pie mission that I had to show a sneak peek now...

I MADE PUMPKIN PIE! REAL PUMPKIN PIE(s.. little pies.. tartelettes if you will)! Against all odds and doubts of being able to do so in France! I picked up the Libby's in Paris and hoped that my tiny little oven could do the job. (I also hoped and hoped that "girofle" means "cloves" when I was rushing to buy spices in the store last night 5 minutes before they closed... it does, yay!) And then there was the whole debacle of figuring out how to convert teaspoons into grams... and then realizing I wouldn't be able to measure out half a gram of ginger on my scale (the smallest ticks are 5 g)... blerg!

I haven't tried it yet, but I did have a couple spoonfuls of the batter before I popped it in the oven and it tasted heavenly and pumpkiny and had the perfect amount of spice. I actually did a little jig in the kitchen.
It's officially Thanksgiving.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Well, I've now been in France for almost 2 months. About to break my record for time abroad. I'm going home for a couple weeks in December, which I'm really excited about, but I couldn't possibly imagine leaving for good yet. Good thing I'll come back to 4 more months after Christmas!

Work is going a lot smoother. I'm not getting as nervous before each class, and it's not as big of a deal now to stand up in front of 20 kids (although there is that moment at the beginning of each class where I say "ok. Hello everyone! Hello." and I do an awkward wave. I should work on a better start to class...) This next week I'm going to talk about Thanksgiving and have all the kids make hand turkeys. You know the ones....

I had fun making this today while watching clips of The West Wing on youtube... Americaaaaa!

Also, tomorrow I'm going to be singing in a choir concert! I know, random! One of the girls here studies music at her university and she wants to keep up with it while abroad, so she and I and two other girls joined a community choir (the rest of us are just doing it for fun). The choir is all middle-aged French men and women, and they're all so fascinated by us, les anglaises ("the English girls"... actually we're British, Irish, American, and Canadian, respectively, but you know). The songs are kind of difficult -- Latin! German! Russian! aaaack -- but it's really fun. I used to take singing lessons (fun fact!) and I've actually kind of missed it. My mother would be proud I think... she was trying to get me to watch this documentary-show on BBC called The Choir and I always rolled my eyes, but I really do like choir. (Sorry Mom, the teacher is an older French woman and not a "cute" young Brit like on the show. haha.)

Friday, November 19, 2010

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

So I just realized I only posted about part of my vacation! After my parents left, I hopped on a train in Paris with my friend Jill and we set off for Montpellier! We'd both studied there for several months in 2008-2009 and we were excited to return for the first time since studying there...

We didn't study there together, but it's funny.. when I first found out that she had been there too, I felt we had an instant bond because of that. It's just that kind of city. :)

While we were down south we took a little day trip to Avignon, stopping in Nîmes for an hour or so on the way. It rained a little bit but it was still a perfect trip...

Feathers at the Arena in Nîmes (apparently it's the best preserved arena of the Roman era? pretty impressive.)

I had forgotten that Montpellier has palm trees! And it was sunny and warm and beautiful when we were there... just like home!

3 Graces fountain!

I kept saying while I was there... "I'm so happy.... I want to live here... why can't we live here? I'm so happy here..."

Norton building?

I even found a building with my name on it. Obviously I'm meant to live there.

They had Christmas decorations up around the city already...

Un petit pause...

At the big "M" (for Montpellier)

Also! I got to see a really good friend that I met back in 2008 while I was down there.... so good to see him again. Ah, the magic of modern technology for keeping in touch!

I really want to go back there more often, since it's such a vibrant city with so much to do... somewhat unlike Evreux... but it's so pricey. A round-trip train ticket runs about 120 euro. And I only have two-day weekends (first world problems, I know, I know) so I also don't have much time for long train rides. Drat. I'm sure I'll be able to convince the other girls to take a trip down there soon... Or maybe after Christmas. We need to go to le bar australien!

It really was a bittersweet feeling being back there, though. I kept thinking of all the wonderful people I met that summer, and how much fun I had, and how young I was (hah, all of 2 and a half years ago), and how much it made me want to return to France one day.
And here I am. I hope I look back on this trip someday with the same fuzzy feelings I have for 2008.

Elementary school flash baaaack. I didn't even know they still made Fruit by the Foot!

I got two of everything so I'm gonna school my Irish roommate on the amazingness of American candy. She already enlightened me to the restorative effects of "rashers" after a night out. It's like bacon, but even better. I know, I couldn't believe it either. Too bad you can't get them here.. she actually brought a package of them on her carry-on on the trip back from Dublin last week. Love it.

Also I think it's kinda neat that I got an x-ray on the 115th anniversary of the discovery of the x-ray. I went to Rouen today for a medical visit required for all the assistants outside of the EU... the doctor took a look at the x-ray and said "Bon, pas de lésions..." Well jeez I hope there's no lesions! Oh and I got to keep it. Nice, more wall decorations.

And hint hint... I loooove care packages. You all have my address, right? ;)

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Today I got back home to Evreux from about 12 days of non-stop traveling. I had an amazing vacation. I can't wait to write all about it here, but it's late and I have to teach tomorrow... and I have no lessons planned... anyway. I had a really good time showing my parents around France, and it was wonderful to see Montpellier again for the first time since I studied there in 2008. All those feelings from that summer came rushing back, and it's kind of overwhelming. I'm constantly thinking about the possibility of staying here for another year.

Here's me at Le Mont St. Michel, near the border of Normandy and Brittany. One of the great monuments in France, if not the world. I'm so glad I got to see it!

Monday, October 18, 2010

I received not one... not two... but three drawings today! And they're all amazing! They're going on my wall right now.

Mario - from a boy in my first class today

A heart balloon with my name - from a girl in the same class

And MOI! UNE VRAIE FRANÇAISE! heehee. From Kent - thanks, dude!

Today I made a fool of myself by dressing up like a witch to explain what we do for Halloween in the states. I also had them go "trick or treating" up to the front of the class and they got stickers instead of candy. It was fun. I love these kids!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

This past weekend, 7 of my fellow assistants and I went up to Rouen (pronounced "Wah" - seriously) for a little getaway. What a great city! I wish I was living there instead of here... there's a really vibrant, big-city feel to it. There's those narrow winding streets with big tall old buildings that I always associate with European cities. Not the case in Evreux. However! I am beginning to appreciate Evreux for what it is. A cute small city with charm. And I could be living in a much smaller town! It's a good balance. A good place to call home.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Today was my very first day at one of the schools where I'll be teaching.

All I can say is that I hope it gets better. Right now I'm trying to find free ESL teaching resources (thank you, internet) before going to bed. Sleep always helps when I'm having a not-so-great day.

This weekend we're going to Rouen for some sight-seeing and shopping and fun things! We drove through it briefly yesterday and it looks simply amazing. Lots of old beautiful buildings and a there's a real city feel to it. Evreux feels like a small town in comparison... and much of it was destroyed in WWII so there aren't many old buildings.. I still like it here though. :) When we were leaving Rouen, we drove by a Paul bakery and I literally screamed "PAUL!" and pressed my hands and nose up to the window. I must have gone there a hundred times back in 2008... we Montpellier folks loved our Paul... mmmm tarte aux myrtilles...

Speaking of yesterday - we had our big regional orientation in Rouen and I met a bunch of other English assistants who are teaching in other cities around Evreux. Even a few from California! (One went to USC - I had to bring up the UW game, just had to... probably not the greatest first impression but I was friendly enough. heeh.) One guy from England asked (jokingly?) if he could record my voice for his morning alarm (in a good way?). Don't think I've heard that one before...

Tomorrow is Wednesday, which means no class for les petits français, which means a day off for me. Woohoo! It will most likely be spent sleeping in, running errands, getting lunch with the girls, and maybe taking some more pictures. I need to get on that. It's just been sooo rainy here (aww, like home!) that I don't feel like taking out my camera.

Thursday I'll have another go at this whole going-to-a-school-and-pretending-I-know-what-I'm-doing business. Hopefully the kids won't laugh at me this time...